My Skies Are Turning Black

I stood outside the terminal, and checked the time. It was 9:30AM. I'd been standing here since 8:30AM. Jonathan was supposed to come pick me up but had a team meeting to go to. So I was waiting for my cab. It was pretty weird, with Sid being on the Chicago Blackhawks now. But at least while I was staying here in Chicago, I would have Sidney. Just as I gave up the damn cab finally got here. I wasn't too excited at having to live with Jonathan in Chicago... But here I was. All because of my parents. And his.
He left the key on the top of the door ledge and I let myself in. I looked around the place and walked straight into his bedroom. I still remembered it perfectly from when I was last here three months ago. Unlike the rest of the spotless house, the room was a mess, littered with his Chicago Blackhawks jerseys and hockey sticks. There was a suit on the ground from last night, pictures of the team after winning the Stanley Cup, and pictures from the 2010 and 2014 Olympics. There were many pictures of him and Kane, and there was even a #88 jersey hanging in the open closet. His hockey bag lay open on the ground, full of his gear. I turned around and saw Jonathan standing in the doorway. "Oh i'm so sorry. I didn't mean to."

"Nah it's okay. Uh feel free to make the place your own. Well, it is your own place too now, I guess. Sorry it's such a mess. I was in a real hurry today. Oh and you can chose any room you wanna sleep in."

"Woah Jonathan what happened? You got hurt pretty bad." His entire lip was busted and had many bruises.

"Oh it's from practice. Nothing really. Uh which room did you say you wanted?"

"Okay then... Uh, I'll take that room." Out of the three, I pointed to the closest one.

"Uh sure." He stood in the doorway for another second, then turned and left. Okay I was pretty sure we should, I don't know, sleep in the same room together? But I didn't wanna be the one to bring it up. Everything was already awkward enough.
The next day the crib order I had placed arrived. Okay this was harder than I thought it would be. Making a crib seemed near impossible. It was still very, very early to be worrying about this stuff, but I was almost four months and I would have to do all this eventually. Jonathan's game was today and he was pretty busy so I didn't want to bother him. But these things were the only way to keep my mind off of this whole situation. Especially now that Sidney was also on the Blackhawks. I had been sitting here with the pieces of the crib for an hour, and I decided to get up and try again. Just as I stood up, the bell rang. I rushed over to open the door and to my surprise, it was Sidney. I brightened up when I saw him. "Sidney, i've missed you!" I pulled him into a hug and he smiled.

"I've missed you too." He handed me a bouquet of roses.

"Aw, Sidney. Thank you. Red roses are my favourite!" He laughed.

"Can I come in?" I nodded and led him in to the living room, just when I noticed the bruising around his cheek and eye. "Oh my God Sidney. What happened to your face? Did you get into a fight or something?" He turned his face away so I couldn't see.

"No it's nothing. Happened at practice I took a bad fall."

"Funny. You and Jonathan both got hurt that bad at practice at the same time, huh?" I looked at him questioningly.

"Yeah...I collided with him. Nothing really." He shrugged. "You trying to make a crib?" He pointed to the box on the living room floor.

"Yeah. All morning. Kinda stuck. Would you be able to help me...?" I knew he had to go get ready for his game soon but still offered. He nodded and I happily led him into the room. I watched as he put together the crib effortlessly, without having to look at the instructions once. It took him only 40 minutes to finish. I was pretty impressed. "Wow okay that took me all day to just put together two pieces. Thank you, for helping me."

"Nah it's nothing really. Well I gotta go now, to meet the jerks called the team." Before he turned to leave he pulled out something from his back pocket. "So I got a pass for the game tonight, complimentary of the Blackhawks. It's a pass for people the players know, and I wanted to give you it. I was hoping you could come to the game? For me?" I smiled and took the pass from his hands.

"Yes Sidney. I would love to come watch you play. You especially."

"Great. Thank you! I'll see you at 8 tonight." I spent the rest of the day leading up to the game setting up some of the baby's room and unpacking my things. Jonathan was gone the whole day so I guessed i'd have to take a cab to the game. For the game, I wore a short sleeved plain black top and a short sequinned skirt with sandals, since it was pretty nice weather that evening. I had to end up taking a cab to the United Center since Jonathan was a asshole and didn't bother to come back to pick me up. I got to the arena and since I had the family pass Sidney gave me, I got to skip the lines and could go to the seats from the hallways that are restricted for players and staff. As I was trying to find my way around the place, I saw a group of pretty girls, all 20 to 30, standing together laughing and taking pictures. I realized they were the Blackhawks WAGs. Their gazes fell on me and the talking subsided as they stared at me with blank looks. Judging me, cause I was the newest Blackhawk girlfriend. Well something of a girlfriend. I saw a couple Blackhawks players in suits walking to the locker room. One of them was Patrick Kane. He recognized me and smiled while walking towards me. "Hey. Harley, right? Tazer told me about you. So hows Chicago?"

"Hi. Yeah it's Harley. And well the city is pretty good, from what I've seen so far. Well I've only been here for two days."

"Nice. I'm sure you'll love the city as much as me once you get used to her." He looked down at his Rolex then back at me. "Uh well see you at the game."

"Good luck!" I yelled as he ran to catch up with the others.

"Thanks!" He yelled back. I managed to find my seat by the glass and waited for the game to start. After about half an hour the arena was packed with fans in red, and the game had just begun. Sidney won the face off and skated to the Rangers side. The Hawks won, and I got up to leave just a couple minutes after the game winning goal was scored by Sidney. But before I could leave, something caught my eye. Jonathan Toews. He was on the ice celebrating with the players and looked my way. I smiled, but he simply gave me a blank stare, and turned back to the players. And all at once, in that moment, a wave of emotion rushed over me and I began to cry. Not a few tears, a full out fucking flood. I don't know why. I ran out of the arena and didn't stop until I got outside tears still streaming.

-S-

The Hawks players surrounded be and hugged me, congratulating me for my first win as a Hawk. But I wasn't interested in that. What I was more interested in was what was wrong with Harley. I tried to catch her attention but she wouldn't look my way. Cause she couldn't stop looking at Toews and began to cry as she ran out. Fuck. "Harley!" I yelled but it was no use. She wouldn't hear me over the roar of the UC. So I ran after her, in my full hockey gear all the way out the doors. The silence outside was almost deafening after all the sounds inside the arena and of the reporters hounding me for questions as I swept past them all. When I saw her I immediately pulled her into me. "Hey, Harley what happened?"

She sniffled. "Nothing...it's just. Toews. Why does he hate me? I just want... I just want, our baby to grow up with both of us. With loving parents. But he hates me." I felt a pang of guilt. He was hurting her so bad and I couldn't do anything about it. She fucking loved him and he wouldn't so much as bat an eye towards her.

"Hey look. If this crap with Jonathan is bringing you down you always have me. I'm here for you. Look, please don't cry I...I love you." The words spilled out of my mouth before I could have stopped them, and I felt the heat rising to my face.

"W-What?" She looked up at me through the tears. Yes. She didn't hear that through her crying.

"Nothing. I just really care about you and don't want to see you hurt like this." I pulled her close into me, taking in the smell of her sweet perfume. The aroma of the wet earth after a rainfall was all around us in the still evening and we stayed like that for what seemed like eternity.

Notes